The Local Focolare Men's Center for Northeast of Manila

Dear Friends,

We are the men's focolare (this time we refer to the core unit of animators rather than to the whole reality of movements animated by the same spirituality) for the zonetta (quasi-zone) of Northeast of Manila. We are sometimes called the new Zonetta of Quezon City as we plan to be located somewhere in Quezon City to be nearer to the community that we will serve.

At present, we are located in Makati. Our present address is 175 Calamba St., Talayan Village, Quezon City. Click here for the online wikamapia map of the place.
In our usual task of maintaining and spreading the ideal of unity, as a new charism of the Church, our Focolare will now be responsible maintaining and irradiating the life of unity for the areas of Quezon City, San Juan, Pasig, Marikina, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Rizal, Pampanga, Isabela, Cagayan and other provinces northeast of Luzon.

If you are happy with the work we are doing, you may want to help us move forward.

Our Focolare is presently quite international as to its composition. Let us introduce first those who stay in the center: Gabriel "Gabby" Lim, a Chinese-Filipino of Manila; Lorenzo Morganti, an Italian; Oscar Gayol, a Filipino from Leyte; and Thomas Fuerer, a Swiss.
The married ones among us, who stay outside of the center each with their own families, are all Filipinos: Avelino Teaño, Heny Lopezbaños, Lito Bulan, Luisito "Chito" Rodriguez, Nat Asprer, Rod Cabael, Walfrido "Gibi" de los Angeles, and William Pilarta

For more information, you may contact Gabby Lim at 029415099 (Weekdays morning and afternoon), 8438466 (Evening and weekends), or 09158757026. Our email address is focm.northeastmanila@gmail.com.

You may want to see a photo gallery of a few among our many endeavors... (more photos will be coming in.)

Sharing the New Life with the Kids

20051013 Run 4 Unity Manila

Contributions to the Local Focolare Center

^top^

Dear Friends,

Thank you for taking interest in the work we do!

If you wish to contribute to us, your time and talents are most welcome. If you wish to help in material form*, you may contact Gabby Lim through 09272505019 or thru our Focolare email, focm.northeastmanila@gmail.com. Our Focolare telephone number is 8438466. Contributions in kind are likewise most welcome.

*There is no need to do so, but if you are particular about where you want your donations to go, you may specify the desired end-purpose destination/usage for your donation.

^top^

Specification of Donation Destination

^top^

Name:

Date:

Total Amount:

I would like that my above mentioned donation be used:

___ 1. as you (the Focolare Center for Northeast of Manila) deem appropriate (see breakdown of donation as to destination)

___ 2. only for the use/destination that I will specify: (see regularly ongoing initiatives/activities), (see support for indigents), (see expense centers)

a.

b.

c.

*Unless otherwise specified, all donations shall be considered as informal in nature. However, should the donor wish that the donation be formal, an official receipt shall be issued upon request. Note that the Local Focolare Center does not have ORs which are available only at the Zone Center.

^top^

Suggested Distribution of Donations

^top^

1/2 for the administration and projects of the Manila Zone (comprising Metro Manila until Parañaque to the south, and all areas in Luzon to the north) c/o the Men's Zone Center at 4800 Valenzuela St., Sta. Mesa Manila.

1/2 for the upkeep, maintenance and projects of the Men's Focolare Center for Northeast of Manila, as well as for the needs of its constituent community. (See details of donation usage/destination for the local men's center)

^top^

Usage/Destination of Portion for Local Center

^top^

The last third portion which is destined for the Men's Center for NE Mla. will be further divided as follows:

1/3 for its own mission-related equipment purchase and current expenses,

1/3 for paying a part of the tuition/school expenses of indigent children within its constituent community, and logistic support for retreat and spiritual formation events of families in financial crisis.

1/3 for the dialogue- and apostolate-related formation and team-building (taking time out to share each other's lives so as to have always full unity among us) activities of the focolarinos of this particular Focolare Center.

^top^

Distribution of Donation As to Expense Centers

^top^

1. Only to the Local Men's Focolare Center for Northeast of Manila - for its upkeep, maintenance, administration and projects (including regularly ongoing initiatives/activies), and I would be happy if a brief report can be furnished in this blogsite, of how my donations are used.

2. Only to the Local Focolare Centers (both of the Men and Women Sections, equally distributed) ... I do not request any report of how my donations are used by the women's section*.

3. Only for the administration and projects of the Zone of Manila c/o the Men's Zone Center... I do not request any report of how my donations are used*.

*the brief reports are the initiative of, and are done only by the Local Focolare Center while it is not bound to do so. It can only account for the funds that it is using and not for other centers.

^top^

Regularly Ongoing Initiatives/Activities

(The marks "!" after each item indicate the amount of need for additional funds to achieve satisfactory impact of the activities/events and to increase their number of outreached participants.)

^top^

1. Youth

. a. young children (4th Generation) ! ! ! !

. b. children (3rd Generation) ! ! !

. c. teens (3rd Generation) ! ! !

. d. college students and young professionals (2nd Generation) ! !

2. Dialogues

. a. among Christian Churches ! ! ! ! !

. b. among people of different religions !

. c. deepening of communion within the Catholic Church !

3. Renewal of Christian Life among communities - Provincial Apostolate ! ! ! ! !

4. Theological Research/Training and Dialogue with Culture ! !

^top^

Support for Indigents

^top^

1. Educational Support for Children of Families in Financial Crisis - defrayment of tuition and school expenses ! !

2. Logistics for Participation in Retreats and Formation Events for Families in Financial Crisis. ! !

^top^

For Administrative Efficiency and Effective Communication

^top^

Use of Cash Donations

As a guiding principle, we use cash donations only for purposes that would most likely be considered very essential and would be agreeable to all cash donors.

As far as our personal living is concerned, we strive to live in simplicity as encouraged by the Church. We therefore highly discourage donations of fixed assets that would be considered as luxury to the community around us. This is as far as our personal living is concerned. The focolarinos find their own means to support their own personal living and the upkeep of the Focolare as the nucleus of the Work of Mary.


Suggested items for donations in kind

However, should you desire that the Focolare receive additional logistic support to augment its administrative efficiency, communication, and publicity, we would not consider it as counter to the mission assigned to us nor to the spirit of charity by which we ought to be characterized. On the other we would rather that the community and friends of the Focolare donate them in kind so that they would be justifiable to all the donors and clearly appear as purchases decided BY the community FOR the benefit of the community.

As a basic guideline, we suggest that donations be chosen to help us fulfill our mission of spreading the life of unity.
1. To make the house welcome to everyone. It would be better if donated objects are neither rich nor poor in appearance and in accordance to the style of the prevailing cultural setting.
2. To have only what we need. Therefore, for donations, specially of fixed assets, the less frills the better. On the other hand, a minimum of beauty is requested to help the focolare look like a home rather than an office. The former gives an impression of warmth and love, the latter tends to intimidate a bit. As the focolarinos have only an average of an hour or two daily* for home/center upkeep and outreach, the less maintenance-intensive the equipments, the better.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Needed add-ons to a basic and simple CPU to achieve multimedia creation capability:
. a. Additional 256 MB DDR2 memory of high-reliability (abt 1,800)
. b. Sound card, high-fidelity for sound-recording and analog-to-digital conversions. (abt 1,000)
. c. Hard Drive 160GB as secondary drive, SATA-type for backup of networked computers. (abt 3,500)
. d. Video capture card (abt 10,000)
2. External DVD-RW/RAM, writer durable and highly reliable, urgently needed/ (abt 3,400)
2. Network Router, urgently needed. (Netgear 2,400; Linksys 5,300)
3. Uninterruptible Power Supply, urgently needed. (abt 2,600 to 2,800)
4. 2 Automatic Voltage Regulators, urgently needed. (abt 650)
5. Operating system for computer like Windows XP or Win 2000, would be very helpful but not urgently needed. (abt 5,300)
6. Office suite software like MS Office 2000 Small Business, would be very helpful but not urgently needed. (abt 11,000)
7. External Hard Drive 160 GB, urgently needed. (about 3,600)
8. Telephone with answering machine, urgently needed. (abt 1,500?)
9. Digital camera, would be very helpful but not urgently needed. (abt 7,000)
10. 2nd hand laptop, not more than 3 yrs. P3 or higher, would be very helpful but not urgently needed.
11. Utility vehicle, would be very helpful for the regulary activities with the youth, but not urgently needed.
12. Portable Tape and CD Player, for youth activities and tape-to-digital conversions, badly needed. (JVC 3,580; Philips 4,000;
13. Multimedia Projector, would be very helpful but not urgently needed. (60,000 and above.)
14. Computer Table.
15. Portable voice recorder, preferably in digital format but tape format is workable. (Analog: abt 2,000? / Digital: Sanyo 6,000; Sony 7,000)
16. VHS player, second-hand (for analog-to-digital conversions)

For foundations who wish to give continuous support in kind thru requests, please declare your availability. (click here for contact info in home page)

Recreative educational Library

We would be happy if anyone can donate DVD or VCD films, either in English or with English subtitles, of films with good moral values. (They are nowhere to be found in the Video shops or rental stores.) They are very powerful means to communicate the values of the Gospel in a world surrounded by films that make consumeristic hedonism an acceptable normality.

*For proper management of funds, the economy/financing of the Focolare is divided into 2 distinct and clearly defined areas: 1. the Focolare (core unit) as a self-sustaining body, and 2. the apostolate and outreach to the community (which is also called the Opera, meaning "Work"). The accounting and usage of funds are likewise distinct.
The Focolarinos go outside to do income-generating jobs as common lay persons do, to sustain their own personal living, spiritual formation, and professional/theological updating. The communion of goods on the international level among focolarinos is carried out on an institutional/recurring basis only for the purposes just mentioned.
Funds for the apostolate and outreach to the community are sourced from the community, that is, from its non-core-unit members and Focolare friends. The communion of goods, on an international level, among all other mass movements and common initiatives are generally done on a per-event basis.

^top^